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To understand the problem of natural right, one must start, not from the "scientific" understanding of political things but from their "natural" understanding, i.e., from the way in which they present themselves in political life, in action, when they are our business, when we have to make decisions. This does not mean that political life necessarily knows of natural right. Natural right had to be discovered, and there was political life prior to that discovery. It means merely that political life in all its forms necessarily points toward natural right as an inevitable problem. Awareness of this problem is not older than political science but coeval with it. Hence a political life that does not know of the idea of natural is necessarily unaware of the possibility of political science and, indeed, of the possibility of science as such, just as a political life that is aware of the the possibility of sicence necessarily knows natural right as a problem.

Dheeraj Chand goes back and forth with White House Press Secretary Tony Snow on the politics of the Republican National Committee's reported willingness to buck the President on immigration, and what the political implications of it are. (Audio )

Q Tony, I'd like to go back to the theme of losing Republicans for a minute. The Miami Herald reports this morning that Sunbelt delegates to the Republican National Committee, including Texas, intended to vote against Senator Mel Martinez for general chairman. The Washington Times is claiming that these Republicans have enlisted the aid of a certified parliamentarian to aid them in stopping Senator Martinez from becoming general chairman. Does the White House have any reaction?

Q Well, I mean, specifically a reaction to the sort of revolt from the grassroots and the implications of losing the Sunbelt.

MR. SNOW: Well, you've got to keep in mind -- I'm not sure you lose the Sunbelt. You have a handful of people who have expressed some concerns, and we will continue to address those. But on the other hand, I don't know that you call it a revolt every time you have people who disagree. We think it's democracy, even with the Republican National Committee. And people are certainly free to disagree. And quite often what it does is it provides a much better basis for moving forward, because you've aired your disagreements, you've addressed people's concerns, and you can move forward.

Q A quick follow-up. You're not concerned about the message that it sends to Latino voters and Latinos in those areas?

MR. SNOW: Which message?

Q That he is unacceptable for a chairman because of his perceived pro-Latino stances?

MR. SNOW: Well, again, I think I've already -- Mel Martinez is somebody who clearly enjoys the support and confidence of the President. And it will become clear that he enjoys the support and confidence of the Republican Party. Once again, when you see members of the Democratic Party disagreeing with party orthodoxy on something, I seldom hear people call it a revolt and ask if large numbers of the voting populace ought to recoil in horror as a result of people having expressed their opinions.